The Power of Touch
by misspatchesmom
Summary: Tony and Ziva have always been physical; their need to be in each other's space, the need to touch the other. A collection of shorts exploring this need. Part of the "You Complete Me" universe.
1. It's Been A Day

The Power of Touch

 _T/Z fluff need to touch_

Chapter 1: It's Been a Day

Ziva walked in the front door at precisely 1916; it was a Thursday, which meant that she had worked at the Navy Yard all day. Today's work hours had been 0700 to 1530. Once her work day was completed, she had driven to campus to take a midterm exam for her Organizational Behavior class. The test had been three grueling essays about case studies covered in the online class.

No sooner did she get inside and hang her jacket on the coat rack by the front door than she was surrounded by children and pets. Asher pushed between kids to lean on his person. LJ was tugging at her shirt trying to show her something from his preschool. The twins were demanding attention to show their Ima a new gymnastics routine. Anthony had Daisy next to him and wanted his mother's attention to a trick he had taught his dog. Tali was trying to show her Ima her achievement certificate from her piano teacher. Ziva was about to throw her hands in the air when Tony came out of the kitchen.

"Hey, let Ima get inside before swarming her! Everyone back off for a minute," Tony could see the frustration on Ziva's face. "One at a time when Ima says it's okay, got it?"

"Yes, Abba," the kids chorused.

Ziva gave Tony a smile and mouthed "Thank you" to him as she gave Asher a pet on the head. "Okay, LJ, what do you want to show me?" she asked the little boy.

"I made this picture for you today, Ima. It is you and Asher going for a walk," LJ handed his picture to Ziva and she looked it over. The female figure had brown eyes and long curly hair; the dog had long, skinny legs and tail and brown, black and tan colors in his coat. LJ had drawn a very recognizable picture of his Ima and dog.

"I love it, LJ; toda," Ziva hugged her youngest. "I will hang it in my office after dinner. Would you put it on my desk please?" LJ grinned and skipped off to put the picture in Ziva's office.

Turning to the twins, Ziva nodded that she would watch their gymnastics now. She watched the two girls do the maneuvers they had learned that day and then smiled at them. "Very nicely done; you did a great job."

"Thank you, Ima!" both girls grinned at their mother and headed to the kitchen when Tony reminded them that it was their turn to set the table for dinner.

"Anthony, what trick did you teach Daisy?"

Anthony showed his parents how he had taught Daisy to dance on her hind legs. Ziva gave the dog a pet and hugged her son. "Nice work!"

She turned to Tali, holding her hand out to see the certificate, "Mazal tov Tali!" Her oldest grinned at her Ima and the two hugged. "I will put this on the fridge when I go to the kitchen," Ziva told Tali. Tali headed off in the direction of the family room and Tony grinned at his wife.

He held his arms out to her and she melted into his hug. "Feel better?" he asked as he wrapped her into the hug and kissed her.

"Mmmm," she murmured into the kiss. Once they broke for air she added, "Now I do. I just needed to feel your touch."


	2. Give Me A Break!

Chapter 2: Give Me a Break!

Tony was about to turn into the subdivision to go home for the day when he remembered that he had promised to pick up milk and some other groceries for Ziva when he had talked to her mid-afternoon. He headed to the nearest grocery store and once there send her a text that he was at the store.

He grabbed a cart and started making the trip through the store to get the items Ziva requested. As he navigated the crowded aisles, he reflected on his day. It had started when he got dressed that morning; nothing seemed to go his way. After showering, he had put on his suit pants and then sat on the bed to put on his socks and shoes. As he sat, he felt the seam of his pants split open across his behind. The unplanned change of clothes had left him rushing out the door to get ahead of the traffic. In his hurry, he had left his coffee in the travel mug on the kitchen counter along with the breakfast bagel sandwich Ziva had made for him.

A stop at a fast food place for coffee that was barely passable and a biscuit had put him into more traffic than usual on the interstate. Getting to Cheltenham had taken him almost twice as long as usual because of the fifteen minute delay. Once at the office, his administrative assistant had informed him that four of his seven direct reports had called in sick. So much for the team brainstorming meeting!

Tony grabbed some ground beef from the meat case. Ziva had asked for him to get a three and one half to four pound package. Every one of the packages he looked at was about two and one half pounds. Sighing, he picked two of them and put the packages in the cart. The smell of freshly roasted chickens from the cooked meat counter made his stomach rumble.

He had missed lunch due to a meeting with his supervisor and had to resort to raiding his snack stash in his desk drawer. A granola bar, a candy bar and two mini packs of gummi bears hardly constituted a meal, but it was food. He washed it down with a cup of the mediocre coffee from the office machine.

At the dairy case, the 1% milk in gallons was sold out, so he had to get two gallons of 2% instead of one of each. Par for the course for the way his day had gone! After his 'lunch' he had another meeting to attend and during that meeting, the pen he had been using decided to self-destruct. He still had blue ink on his hands despite scrubbing them. Thankfully, he hadn't gotten any ink on his clothes!

A final swing by the bakery department to get hamburger rolls and he was headed to the checkouts. Only three registers were open, and the lines were backed up on all three. Tony eyed the baskets of the customers in each line and picked one, sliding in behind a woman with three kids. Ten minutes later, he was no closer to checking out as the person two ahead in the line had a custom made cake that the cashier didn't know how to key in. He sighed.

Finally to the belt, he placed his items and waited for the woman with the kids to finish her checkout. At last, it was his turn. He slid his debit card into the reader, entered his PIN and got the receipt. HOME! Tony headed to the door to the parking lot and stopped in between the sets of doors. It was pouring rain outside! He could wait it out inside or under the overhang as many other customers were doing or say the hell with it and make a run for the truck. He opted for the latter.

He was almost to the truck when a kid went by in a truck at a higher speed than he should have. The kid's truck splashed in a puddle sending a spray over Tony. Why not? He was now soaked on one side and his shoes were making squishing sounds. He loaded the three bags of groceries and the milk gallons into the front seat and put the cart in the corral (at least he had done that right by parking next to the cart corral!)

Inside the truck, he sent Ziva a text that he was on his way home from the grocery store. She sent back a smiley face. Once home, he pressed the button on the remote for the garage door opener. Nothing happened. He tried again, and again the door didn't move. Tony picked up his phone and called Ziva. No answer. He called Tali.

"Hey, Abba," Tali answered.

"Hey, Tals. Would you do me a favor and open the garage door? My remote isn't working."

"Got it," Tali replied.

He waited and as soon as the door opened, he put his phone in the inside pocket of his jacket, grabbed the bags of groceries and milk and ran through the rain to the garage. He was soaked. Inside, he closed the door and headed into the house.

Ziva was on the phone while cooking. He heard her say good bye to Dee and she turned to greet him.

"Hello, To… oh my, what happened to you? You look like a drowned mouse!"

Tony put the grocery bags on the counter, "Idiot in the parking lot that forgot to watch his wake; and it's drowned rat." He smiled a small smile at her.

Ziva grinned at him and moved to hug him. "Let me get out of these wet clothes, and I will be back for a proper greeting, Zi." Tony headed to the master bedroom to change clothes.

After changing to sweats and a t shirt, Tony headed back to the kitchen. Ziva was listening to Anthony and Rivka arguing about whose turn it was to set the table. Anthony insisted that it was her turn.

Rivka turned to her Ima, "But, Ima, I set the table the day before yesterday! It's Anthony's turn."

"We will settle this by looking at the chore chart then," Ziva moved to the large bulletin board/white board on the wall by the refrigerator. She looked at the chore chart. "Rivka, you traded with Anthony for a day next week, according to the chart. See, both of you initialed it." She pointed to the change.

Rivka sighed and went to set the table. Anthony went back to the family room to the Xbox game he, Beth, and LJ were playing.

Ziva moved to Tony and he wrapped his arms around her as she fused her lips on his. She broke the kiss to ask him how his day had gone.

"Not one for the memory books, that's for sure!" Tony sighed. "But it's a whole lot better now that I can feel you hugging me!" He put his lips on hers and sighed. His ninja's touch made everything bearable.


	3. Can't Sleep

Chapter 3: Can't Sleep

Tony tiptoed into the house at 0015. Gibbs was asleep on the sofa in the family room and as far as he knew, Tali and Anthony were asleep in their rooms. Tony was exhausted but he was still too keyed up to sleep. After spending most of the day at the hospital with Ziva in labor, his new daughters had made their appearance at 2213 and 2235. He had cut the cords for both babies and then held each of the twins. Ziva was wiped out from labor and she had been zonked when he left the hospital. Rivka Abigail had preceded her sister Elizabeth Shannon by twenty two minutes. The babies had sandy brown hair with curls already evident. They looked very much like older sister Tali and the pictures Tony had seen of baby Ziva. He pulled up the picture of Ziva holding both babies that he had texted to the family earlier.

In the master bedroom, he quickly stripped to his boxers and then completed his bedtime routine. He came out of the bathroom and looked over at the two bassinettes awaiting their occupants. The two removable carrier parts of the infant car seats were sitting next to the beds. The bases were already in the family van in the two middle row seats. They had moved Tali's and Anthony's car seats to the third row and installed the bases last weekend in anticipation of the twins' arrival. Anthony had taken to the rear seat readily on Sunday when they went to the McGee house for the weekly family dinner. Tali had been indifferent to the change in seating.

Tony lay down on the bed and looked at the picture of Ziva with the twins one more time before turning the bedside lamp off. He lay in the darkened room staring towards the ceiling. Father of four, he thought about that they had doubled the number of kids that they have. Life was about to get crazier in their household with two infants. He reached his arm towards Ziva's side of the bed without thinking.

He rolled on his side and hugged her pillow to his chest, burying his face into the pillow and inhaling her scent. He missed her presence next to him, the feel of her body against his. This was the second night since September 2016 that he had not had her in bed with him at night. The first time had been the night Anthony was born, when she had slept in the birthing center bed and he had fallen asleep on the sofa bed in the birthing suite once Anthony had arrived.

This time, she was in a totally different building, miles away from him. Tony hoped she stayed asleep, knowing that she too would be missing his touch if she were awake. He finally fell into a fitful sleep at some point.

At 0700, Tali and Anthony woke up their Abba, despite being warned by Grandpa to let him sleep. Tony hugged his two older kids and picked up his phone to show them the picture of their baby sisters.

"Are we going to see them today, Abba?" Tali asked.

"Yes, I will be bringing them and Ima home later today. Let's go get some breakfast," Tony replied. He led the kids to the kitchen where Gibbs was making pancakes and sausage. Anthony sat down at the breakfast nook table and started eating as soon as his Grandpa put a plate in front of him.

Tony put the kids' orange juice at their places and poured a cup of coffee for himself. Gibbs set a third plate on the table and motioned to Tony to sit and eat.

As Gibbs brought his own plate and coffee to the table, Tony showed him the picture on his phone. "Rivka Abigail and Elizabeth Shannon," Tony watched Gibbs' reaction to the names.

Gibbs smiled at his son, "Honored that you named her after Shannon. What time you going to get them?"

Tony swallowed the bite of pancakes, "Figured I'd head over about 0900 and wait with Ziva for their discharge. You okay with staying with Tali and Anthony?"

"Yep." Gibbs put a forkful of pancakes into his mouth and nodded. "Always okay with spending time with my grandkids!"

Anthony held up his plate for more food; Tony took the plate and added two pancakes and another sausage link and handed it back to his son. "Toda, Abba," Anthony grinned as his father helped him pour syrup on everything.

"Abba, what about school?" Tali asked.

"You get to stay home today, Tals. It's a special day." Tony pulled his oldest into a hug. "That okay with you?"

Tali grinned, "Yes, Abba! I can't wait to see Ima and the babies!" Tali was excited to have new sisters. She had told everyone in her kindergarten class that she would be getting not one but TWO new sisters.

As Tony showered and dressed for the day, Gibbs cleaned up the kitchen and sent the two older DiNozzo children to get dressed. Tony dressed and grabbed the two car seats. He put on his coat and took the carriers out to the van, securing each one in its base. He looked at the four car seats in the back of the minivan. He and Ziva had the family that they had planned; four kids, a house and most of all, each other. He was happy with his life as a family man, something that he hadn't thought possible just four short years ago. 2016 had been a year of great changes in his life; ultimately all for the better. It had also been the year of four months of personal hell with only Tali to keep him going while he waited to confirm what his heart believed.

Tony shook his head to ground himself; back to happier thoughts. He had a wife and two new babies to bring home. He walked back inside the house and hugged Anthony and Tali, "Be good for Grandpa, and I will see you sometime around eleven."

"Okay, Abba," both replied before going off to the playroom and their toys.

"I'll text you when we leave," Tony told Gibbs. "Thanks for staying with the kids."

Gibbs nodded, "See you later," as Tony headed towards the door.

At the hospital, Tony carried the two infant seats into the hospital and went to Ziva's room. When he entered, she had both girls nursing and smiled up at her soulmate. "Boker tov, Tony." He leaned in and brushed his lips on hers.

"Double duty there?" he grinned at her.

"Seemed easier than trying to do one at a time," Ziva grinned back. She handed Rivka to her Abba for burping and put Elizabeth on her shoulder, patting her back gently. "I just need to figure out how to burp them at the same time!"

"I missed you next to me last night; couldn't sleep," Tony said as he patted Rivka's back.

"Sorry, I slept like a rock," Ziva responded. "I guess I was tired."

"Well, I would think so after all the work to get these two birthed!" Tony shifted Rivka to his arm and cradled her as she slept. "They are so beautiful, Zi. Anthony and Tali are excited to meet them."

"And I am ready to go home!" Ziva exclaimed as her doctor walked in to the room.

"Good morning, Mr. and Mrs. DiNozzo. Everything looks good to go; any questions for me?" Dr. Garcia asked. Both parents shook their heads to the negative. "You two have been down this road before, so I will sign your discharge papers. Once the pediatrician signs off on the girls, you are set to go."

"Thanks!" Tony placed Rivka in a carrier and then took Elizabeth from her Ima. "Go get dressed, Zi; I'll let you know if the pediatrician comes in." Ziva nodded and took her bag to the bathroom to take a quick shower and get her clothes on. She came out of the bathroom in a comfortable pair of track pants and a zip front hoodie three minutes before the pediatrician entered the room.

He checked the girls over and told the parents that they were good to go. "The discharge orders should be at the nurses' station in fifteen minutes at the latest. We'll get an orderly up here with a wheelchair as soon as possible. I'll see you in a week at the office!"

Ziva packed her go bag as they waited. A nurse's assistant came in the door with the wheelchair and Tony picked up the two carriers. "Let's go home!"

Tony had barely shut the engine off in the driveway when Tali and Anthony came running out the front door followed by Gibbs. Both kids hugged their Ima and walked by her side as she headed to the house. Tony handed Gibbs a baby and then took the other infant and Ziva's bag. The family went into the house with kids chatting excitedly about their new sisters. Once in the family room, Ziva had Tali and Anthony sit on the sofa. She and Tony handed each of them a twin. "Tali, you have Rivka, and Anthony you have Elizabeth."

Tali looked at her baby sister, "Hi, Rivka; I'm your big sister Tali." She grinned when Rivka opened her eyes and looked at her.

Anthony grinned at the baby in his arms, his Abba helping him hold her. "Hi, Beth. You are little." He placed a kiss on her forehead. "I love you baby Beth." Tony snapped a picture with his phone as Ziva wiped a tear from her eye.

"I hadn't thought about using a nickname, but Beth fits her, doesn't it?" Tony grinned at Ziva. The babies started fussing and Tony helped Ziva take them to the master bedroom to nurse. She nursed them together again and he returned to help her burp and change them.

The family of six spent the rest of the day quietly. Gibbs stayed for dinner and then left for his house after being reassured by Ziva that she and Tony would be fine with the four kids by themselves. Tony got the older two ready for bed and then settled in for the night. He headed to the master bedroom where Ziva was nursing Beth while Rivka had fallen back to sleep after nursing. She settled Beth back into the bassinette. She and Tony moved to their bed and lay down, cuddling.

Tony placed a gentle kiss on Ziva's lips, and wrapped his arms around her as she snuggled into his side with her head over his heart. "Mmmm, I think I will sleep tonight," Tony whispered. "I have you to hold again."

"Sleep now; they will be awake again soon enough," Ziva murmured. "Ani ohevet otcha, Tony. Laila tov."

Tony sighed, "Laila tov, Zi. Ani ohev otach." He smiled as he drifted off to sleep, his ninja where she belonged, in his arms…

* * *

A/N Two more chapters to go, but will be posting them after Christmas. (Three Christmas stories coming soon!)


	4. Slow Dancing

Chapter 4: Slow Dancing

The club was packed as Tony and Ziva worked their way through the crowd keeping an eye out for the suspect. Tim and Gibbs were outside with Fornell and two locals watching the entrances and exits. The loud music and gyrating bodies of the club's patrons made it even harder to identify people. Add to that the woman they were seeking was rather nondescript and as Tony had said earlier; they were looking for a needle in a stack of needles.

Their suspect tended to wait until the slower dances to choose her victim for the night. She would get him out on the dance floor for a slow dance, pick his pocket, and inject a sedative into him. Then she would take him out of the club on the pretense of helping him to a cab. The guy would show up beaten and tied up the next morning with no recollection of how he got to the alley or warehouse area where he was found. By the time he realized that he had been robbed, the victim's accounts were drained and the credit cards maxed out.

The rock music stopped and the dance floor slowly cleared. Couples started entering the dance area together as slow dance music played. "Couples only," the emcee announced. A slightly drunken man about fifty pounds heavier than Tony moved towards Ziva. Tony caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and moved towards Ziva.

"Haf thish dansh?" the guy slurred and reached for the NCIS agent.

"Sorry, bud, she's mine," Tony cut in and took Ziva's hand. He led her to the open air dance floor and wrapped an arm around her waist. She leaned into him and rested her head on his shoulder, also watching the room as the couple swayed to the music. They observed the other couples dancing, most of them near the edge of the dance area.

"Let me lead, Ziva," Tony hissed in her ear. "Relax into me…" He felt her lean into him a bit more and his heart skipped a beat. Her hair tickled his chin as he inhaled her scent. The feel of her so close to him almost intoxicated his senses.

Ziva leaned into Tony, inhaling his familiar scent. She felt the warmth of his body as she moved with him to surveille the room. The feel of his arms around her relaxed her like nothing else ever had. Her heart beat picked up at the nearness to this man who intrigued her. She could stay in his arms forever…

"Nothing," she murmured as her eyes swept the perimeter of the dance area. She snuggled closer to Tony and the rest of the crowd seemed to fade into the background.

"Nada," Tony echoed. He pulled Ziva closer; he could keep her in his arms forever. The rest of the room seemed to disappear as he focused on the sensations of having his partner and best friend enveloped in his arms.

A sudden slap to the back of the head jarred each of them back to reality. "We got her," Gibbs looked at his two agents, still with their arms around each other. "Let's go." He turned, motioning for them to follow him.

Once out in the parking deck, Gibbs tossed each of his agents a towel. "Dry off," he said to their questioning looks. "You were just dancing in the rain."


	5. Personal Space

Chapter 5: Personal Space

"Agent Gibbs," Sylvia from HR was following Gibbs to the bullpen. He carried a fresh cup of coffee in one hand and a file in the other. "You have to put a stop to the unacceptable behavior on your team."

"And what is that?" Gibbs was annoyed that she had followed him and kept talking without getting to the point of the discussion. "I can't address something I don't know about."

"Agents DiNozzo and David, sir."

"What about them?"

"Well, sir, it seems neither of them has any concept of personal space," Sylvia started. "They are always touching each other and several people have seen them holding hands in the elevator. It's not appropriate for the workplace. AND their PDA violates our policies."

Gibbs sighed, "Look, Sylvia is it? David and DiNozzo do good work. They are the best partners we got in all of NCIS. Are you going to break that up for a little touching or hand-holding?"

"But, sir, it violates…"

"I DON'T CARE! Ya don't waste good; those two are good and together they are unstoppable. Let them be. Got it?" Gibbs huffed.

"But…"

Gibbs locked his steely blues on her, and a flash of anger crossed his face, "Out of all the partner pairings in this building, and in the field offices that I have visited, only these two work in sync one hundred percent of the time. They communicate without words, they have each other's backs and they get the job done. Are you gonna explain to the Director why you want to mess with that?"

Sylvia backed off a bit from Gibbs' glare. "Um, no, sir, not really…"

"Good," Gibbs growled, "Now leave my team alone and go back to your office." He turned to his coffee and started to read the file he had brought with him.

Sylvia headed to the elevator. Agents DiNozzo and David stepped out, their hands locked together and eyes on each other. She stepped aside to let them pass, " **Hrumph**." As she stepped into the elevator, Ziva and Tony looked at her, then back at each other and shrugged. Each one broke out into a smile, the ones they saved only for the other. You couldn't put a piece of paper between them…


End file.
